New York City\u2019s public hospital system is paying millions to Palantir, the controversial ICE and military contractor, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.<\/p>\n
Since 2023, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation has paid Palantir nearly $4 million to improve its ability to track down payment for the services provided at its hospitals and medical clinics. Palantir, a data analysis firm that\u2019s now a Wall Street giant thanks to its lucrative work with the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence community, deploys its software to make more efficient the billing of Medicaid and other public benefits. That includes automated scanning of patient health notes to \u201cIncrease charges captured from missed opportunities,\u201d contract materials reviewed by The Intercept show.<\/p>\n
Palantir\u2019s administrative involvement in the business of healing people stands in contrast to its longtime role helping facilitate warfare, mass deportations<\/a>, and dragnet surveillance.<\/p>\n In 2016, The Intercept revealed<\/a> Palantir\u2019s role behind XKEYSCORE, a secret NSA bulk surveillance program revealed by the whistleblower Edward Snowden that allowed the U.S. and its allies to search the unfathomably large volumes of data they collect. The company has also attracted global scrutiny and criticism for its \u201cstrategic partnership<\/a>\u201d with the Israeli military while it was leveling Gaza.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s Palantir\u2019s work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that is drawing the most protest today. The company provides a variety of services to help the federal government find and deport immigrants. ICE\u2019s Palantir-furnished case management software, for example, \u201cplays a critical role in supporting the daily operations of ICE, ensuring critical mission success,\u201d according to federal contracting documents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that the same company that is targeting our neighbors for deportation and providing tools to the Israeli military is also providing software for our hospitals,\u201d said Kenny Morris, an organizer with the American Friend Service Committee, which shared the contract documents with The Intercept.<\/p>\n Established by the state legislature, New York City Health and Hospitals is the nation\u2019s biggest municipal health care system, administering over 70 facilities throughout New York City, including Bellevue Hospital, and providing care for over 1 million New Yorkers annually.<\/p>\n New York City Health and Hospitals spokesperson Adam Shrier did not respond to multiple requests to discuss the contract\u2019s details. Palantir spokesperson Drew Messing said the company does not use or share hospital data outside the bounds of its contract.<\/p>\n Palantir\u2019s contract with New York\u2019s public health care system allows the company to work with patients\u2019 protected health information, or PHI. With permission from New York City Health and Hospitals, Palantir can \u201cde-identify PHI and utilize de-identified PHI for purposes other than research,\u201d the contract states. De-identification generally involves the stripping of certain revealing information, such as names, Social Security numbers, and birthdays. Such provisions are common in contracts involving health data.<\/p>\n Activists who oppose Palantir\u2019s involvement in New York point to a large body of research that indicates re-identifying personal data, including in medial contexts, is often<\/a> trivial<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAny contract that shares any of New Yorkers\u2019 highly personal data from NYC Health & Hospital\u2019s with Palantir, a key player in the Trump administration\u2019s mass deportation effort, is reckless and puts countless lives at risk,\u201d said Beth Haroules of the New York Civil Liberties Union. \u201cEvery New Yorker, without exception, has a right to quality healthcare and city services. New Yorkers must be able to seek healthcare without fear that their intimate medical information, or immigration status, will be delivered to the federal government on a silver platter.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re independent of corporate interests \u2014 and powered by members. Join us. <\/p>\n Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n Thank You For Joining! <\/p>\n \n Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. <\/p>\n Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept?\n <\/p>\n By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Use<\/a>.<\/p>\n Palantir has long provided similar services to the U.K. National Health Service, a business relationship that today has an increasing number of detractors. Palantir \u201chas absolutely no place in the NHS, looking after patients\u2019 personal data,\u201d Green Party leader Zack Polanski recently stated in a letter to the U.K. health secretary<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPalantir is targeting the exact patients that NYCHH is looking to serve.\u201d <\/p>\n Some New York-based groups feel similarly out of distrust for what the firm could do with troves of sensitive personal data.<\/p>\n \u201cPalantir is targeting the exact patients that NYCHH is looking to serve,\u201d said Jonathan Westin of the Brooklyn-based organization Climate Organizing Hub. \u201cThey should immediately sever their contract with Palantir and stand with the millions of immigrant New Yorkers that are being targeted by ICE in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe chaos Palantir is inflicting through its technology is not just limited to the kidnapping of our immigrant neighbors and the murder of heroes like our fellow nurse, Alex Pretti,\u201d said Hannah Drummond, an Asheville, North Carolina-based nurse and organizer with National Nurses United, a nursing union. \u201cAs a nurse and patient advocate, I don\u2019t want anything having to do with Palantir in my hospital \u2014 and neither should any elected leader who claims to represent nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n Palantir\u2019s vocally right-wing CEO Alex Karp\u00a0has been a frequent<\/a> critic of New York City\u2019s<\/a> newly inaugurated democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Health and Hospitals operates as a public benefit corporation, but the mayor can exert considerable influence over the network, for instance through the appointment of its board of directors. Its president, Dr. Mitchell Katz, was renominated<\/a> by Mamdani, then the mayor-elect, late last year.<\/p>\n
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